Things were looking good based upon the stuff released in the related update, with plenty of decorations which could genuinely be seen as disconcerting and creepy. After a couple of pretty mellow Halloweens I was really chuffed to see a return to the edgier content.
So let's get on with it, starting with the Creepy Stove which was unlocked by completing the opening step. This appliance called for 6 Fiery Fuses, 6 Wiring and 10 Creepy Gears to build, with the latter of these a new part.
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| Creepy Gear and Creepy Bolt |
The Fiery Fuse is a notable inclusion here, since this is its first appearance since being introduced with the Campy Cooker as part of the camping themed goals back in July 2016. It's also a rare airing for the Wiring which, despite being considered as one of the 'basic' parts, is actually in use for the first time since March 2016 when the Ranch Range was added.
As ever, there are three recipes on the Creepy Stove:
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| Creepy Stove recipes |
Well none of these look particularly appetising, but that is of course the whole point. The Slender Steak is dark and gloomy, the Creepy Pasta has odd coloured eyeballs lodged in it and the Cove Clams have a menace about them as if they're going to leap up and bite your face off.
Now for some ratings:
| Creepy Pasta | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3.5 |
| Slender Steak | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3.4 |
| Cove Clams | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 1 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3.6 |
It's not a pretty picture. I'm going to keep this brief: the steak and pasta each have four fellows with identical numbers and the clams match the Crab Cakes (Marine Oven) released six weeks ago in the animal water park themed goals. For the clams that means taking up the mantle as the joint worst profit and portion provider among 7 hour dishes.
So there's not much of anything new for me to say on this threesome, but there is a milestone has been cracked - the Creepy Pasta brings up a century of 4 hour recipes in Restaurant Story. The 4 hour duration is only the second to reach triple figures after the 1 hour bracket, with the 2 hour category likely to follow next (it's currently on 89).
Turning to the second cooker involved in the goals, the Creepy Oven needs 12 Creepy Bolts, 8 Tempered Glass and 8 Fuses to construct. The Creepy Bolt is new, and this time it's the Tempered Glass which is the part being dusted off for its second ever appearance, with its first coming last summer in the laboratory themed goals.
As for the recipes, I fear that I am not recognising some clever puns in the names:
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| Creepy Oven recipes |
Those titles seem odd and leave me fairly certain that there's something swooshing right over my head (and I'm not talking about ghosts!) Nevertheless there's something rather ominous about the Beans Drowned which has as much to do with the unusual green bowl as its name. In contrast the NoEnd Hash doesn't have any scaredy-cat effect on me - in truth it sounds awfully like an infinite supply of hash which comes with a cute little ramekin containing some kind of dip.
Here come the scores on the doors:
| Smile Dog | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3.3 |
| Beans Drowned | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3.2 |
| NoEnd Hash | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 1 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 4.8 |
I'm sorry to say that we have another case of cloned statistics. The Smile Dog and hash have four and two identical numerical entries respectively, while the beans have six doppelgangers. And of those beans doppelgangers, four are the 3 hour dishes added across the previous two goal sets.
I realise that when I complain about the replication of statistics in each of these reports I just cover the same ground every time. But it's so frustrating! Especially when a number of the copycats tend to be very recent recipes too.
Let's just move on and consider the floor decorations which are up for grabs in this quest. The first unearthed was the Creepy Masks which is a 2x1 sized piece involving a selection of masks stacked in a display. The masks themselves are undoubtedly creepy and do a fine job of covering the Halloween bases, but I'd rather have seen them on the faces of characters (Gran-Gran as Frankenstein please!) Having them just propped up on shelves results in any terror induced quickly dissipating.
Luckily we do have a character looking adequately creepy as the second prize. The Creepy Kid looks genuinely unsettling with his crazed face which leaves you concerned of the consequences of failing to give him a treat. His purple costume isn't all that enthralling but it doesn't need to be when you've got that disconcerting smile.
The final prize in the main goals strand was the Creepy Computer. A 3x3 item, I have to confess myself disappointed by it. I assume that it is supposed to be a play on the idea of getting stuck inside a computer but as my lack of certainty indicates, this is not well conveyed. Any spooks generated by the jack-o'-lanterns and ghost emerging from the screen are countered by the brightly coloured keyboard and generic desk. The fact of the matter is that I think this is one of the worst final goal prizes in some time.
Halloween 2017
But all is not lost! There's still the bonus goals to comment upon, with a three-step strand outwith the main chain offering players the opportunity to obtain the Creepy Clock. There was a nice change-up to the tasks along the way, with Halloween themed recipes included. The only shame really was that I didn't know the limited time foods would appear within this mini quest, thus rendering my frantic cooking when they were first dropped needless!
As for the Creepy Clock, it's completely new and although quite diminutive in comparison to the other bonus goal prizes we've seen thus far, it is of high quality. You've got the bats included around the perimeter of the top section, a sinister purple clock face and a curving pendulum that ends with a spike. It's a quality decoration in my view.
In conclusion, I think my initial excitement with the intensity of this Halloween update has fallen away somewhat. The Creepy Doll is absolutely horrifying to look at and may just have made the shortlist of my favourite Halloween stuff ever to appear in the game. It was always going to be a tough ask to live up to that, and although the Creepy Kid and Creepy Clock get a thumbs up, I do feel a little put out. And the less said about the recipes and their numbers the better.
But don't get me wrong - overall this is still a successful Halloween quest. For the seasonal themes we can make easy comparisons with previous efforts, and when judged alongside the last two years there's really no contest. The 2017 edition has provided an element of peril which we've not seen at Halloween for some time.
And we're not finished yet! There's another batch of Halloween related goals have just been released as I write this! As well as some posts regarding that in the coming days there will also be a guided tour of The Garlic Tree where Halloween has taken over, and a showcase in which some of my classy neighbours show off their spooky decorating skills. Busy times ahead!
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